Understanding Comics

Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art is a 1993 non-fiction work of comics by American cartoonist Scott McCloud.[1] It explores formal aspects of comics, the historical development of the medium, its fundamental vocabulary, and various ways in which these elements have been used.[2] It expounds theoretical ideas about comics as an art form and medium of communication, and is itself written in comic book form.[3]

McCloud has followed up Understanding Comics with Reinventing Comics (2000), in which he suggested ways for the medium to change and grow; and Making Comics (2006), a study of methods of constructing comics.

Understanding Comics is a wide-ranging exploration of the definition, history, vocabulary, and methods of the medium of comics. An attempt to formalize the study of comics, it is itself in comics form.

The book's overarching argument is that comics are defined by the primacy of sequences of images.[9] McCloud also introduced the concept of "closure," to refer to a reader's role in closing narrative gaps between comics panels.[10] The book argues that comics employ nonlinear narratives because they rely on the reader's choices and interactions.

The book begins with a discussion of the concept of visual literacy and a history of narrative in visual media. McCloud mentions, among other early works of graphic narrative, the Bayeux Tapestry, as an antecedent to comics. Understanding Comics posits Swiss caricaturistRodolphe Töpffer as in many ways "the father of the modern comic." McCloud emphasizes Töpffer's use of "cartooning and panel borders" along with "the first interdependent combination of words and pictures seen in Europe."[11]

McCloud also highlights the differences between iconic and realistic figures. Iconic figures can be compared to your standard cartoon, while realistic figures focus more on photo-quality in terms of detail. He states that our culture is captivated by iconic images more so due to their simplicity. He provides a full comparison and breakdown of iconic and realistic images and gives an interesting explanation of his reasoning behind this statement.

One of the book's concepts is "The Big Triangle," a tool for thinking about different styles of comics art. McCloud places the realistic representation in the bottom left corner, with iconic representation, or cartoony art, in the bottom right, and a third identifier, abstraction of image, at the apex of the triangle. This allows placement and grouping of artists by triangulation.

Understanding Comics won multiple Harvey Awards in 1994 for Best Graphic Album/Original Material[12] and Best Biographical, Historical or Journalistic Presentation.[12] In addition, McCloud won the 1994 Harvey Award for Best Writer.[12]

Understanding Comics won the 1994 Eisner Award for Best Comics-Related Book.[13]